


Serendipity

by purple_cube



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-09
Updated: 2015-03-07
Packaged: 2018-03-11 09:44:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3322832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purple_cube/pseuds/purple_cube
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, the universe conspires to give you what you need.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written as a drabble request for sixela872 on Tumblr, for the prompt "Quiet Me" (or, one character trying to calm another down).

 

 

In a strange way, she’s grateful for the multiple screw-ups that both the airline and airport manage to make in such a short space of time. From double-booking the flight and offering her an alternative that leaves an hour later, to the ridiculously long queues at security and even longer walk to the gate. They all help to distract from the anxiety that bubbles inside of her whenever she thinks about what she is going to do.

 

But there no distractions left by the time she secures her seat belt. Here she is, inside a 400 ton metal tube that’s somehow going to fly through the air. Fortunately, the seat next to her is still empty, and the aisle to her right makes her feel less claustrophobic than if she had taken Prim’s advice and opted to sit by the window.

 

She closes her eyes and allows her head to drop back against the cushioned chair with a dull thud. Slowly, the background noise fades and she manages to stop flinching every time a body brushes her arm as people proceed along the aisle. But it isn’t until she hears the intercom call for the cabin crew to prepare for departure that she fully relaxes.

 

And then tenses again. _She’s really going to do this._

 

Somewhere nearby, an overhead locker is slammed shut. A moment later, someone clears their throat loudly – and by her side.

 

She opens her eyes to find that a body leaning over her.

 

“I’m sorry,” he begins, “but that’s my seat right there…”

 

Sighing inwardly, she nods, unclasping her belt before he even finishes speaking. He moves aside to let her into the aisle before slipping into the middle seat, nodding politely at the older gentleman who occupies the window seat. But it isn’t until he settles in and turns back to her that she begins to pay attention.

 

And promptly wishes that she hadn’t.

 

Because that shade of blond is too reminiscent of the locks that haunted her dreams during her freshman year. As is his build – stocky and sturdy and strong.

 

As are the bright blue eyes that are now staring at her in disbelief.

 

“Katniss,” he breathes. “I’m so sorry – I didn’t recognize you ‘til now.”

 

She gives voice to the name that she hasn’t spoken for years; not since she clambered out of his bedroom window on the morning that she left for college. “Hey Peeta.”

 

Taking note of the stewardess rapidly making her way towards them, Katniss slides into her seat and fumbles with the belt, conscious of the fact that her high school boyfriend is still watching her.

 

_Less of a boyfriend, and more of a fling_ , she reminds herself. _A handful of awkward sexual encounters during the summer before leaving home do not make a relationship._

 

He clears his throat again, softly this time. “How are you?”

 

She hesitates for a moment before looking across to give him a small smile. “Good, thanks. And you?”

 

He nods, seeming almost relieved that she’s willing to talk to him. “Good, good. Heading home for the holidays. I guess you are too?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

They both fall silent as the safety video begins to play on the screens. That old fear creeps into her chest once more as she sees the animated plane land on water and yellow inflatable slides appear. She watches hypnotically as the unidentifiable men and women slide down.

 

Is this how it had been for her father?

 

She doesn’t even realize that she is gripping the arm rest until Peeta moves his hand to cover hers.

 

“I think you’re really brave,” he says quietly, leaning towards her. “I remember how you once said you never wanted to get on a plane.”

 

She stares down at their hands, but doesn’t move away from his oddly calming touch. “Didn’t have a choice,” she mumbles. “I got offered a job in Chicago that was too good to pass up.”

 

“Always knew you’d do well.” His words are accompanied by a squeeze of his fingers over hers, and she can hear the smile in his voice.

 

She allows herself a smile but still can’t bring herself to look at him, despite feeling the heat of his gaze.

 

Her anxiety kicks into another gear when the plane begins to pull away from the terminal. Desperate now, her eyes dart up to his as words tumble out of her mouth. “What about you? How long have you been living in Chicago? Or are you just transiting?”

 

“No, I live here. Coming up to two years now.”

 

“What made you move?” She needs him to talk, to distract her. “I thought you always wanted to take over your parents’ bakery.”

 

He makes a noise of surprise. “I didn’t think you’d remember something like that.”

 

It surprises her too – but she can’t tell him that. “It’s hard to forget anything that involves the future of that cheese bun recipe,” she says instead, eliciting laughter from him. 

 

“Actually, my dad sold the bakery into a franchise. He still runs it, and under the Mellark name, but we share our recipes with other companies within the umbrella organization. And I work for the parent company in Chicago.”

 

The plane is taxiing towards the runway now, and her heartbeat increases as they get further and further from the safety of the terminal. Peeta seems to notice, wrapping his fingertips beneath her palm to fully envelop her hand.

 

“So you can get your cheese bun fix anytime you want in Chicago,” he continues.

 

“Sounds good,” she says shakily. They come to a stop at the head of the runway – and she knows what this means.

 

This means that they’re about to take off. From the ground. And into the sky.

 

_That’s the theory, anyway_ , she thinks.

 

“How’s your sister’s cat? What was his name – butterscotch, buttercream? Something like that, right?”

 

“Buttercup,” she replies absently. “I’m surprised you’d remember something like that.”

 

“I remember everything about you.”

 

She looks across to find him watching her intently. _This_ she remembers too. The way that he would look at her in class…in the hallway…from across the street during the summer that she worked at Haymitch’s general store.

 

He had looked at her like that when he would come into the store for supplies, too. And when she had kissed him out in the backyard after he had blurted out that she looked beautiful with her hair loose.

 

And when she had climbed through his bedroom window later that evening. And every evening after, until she had finally left their District Twelve neighborhood behind for good.

 

“It was the best summer of my life,” he murmurs, clearly reminiscing too.

 

She snorts. “You’re just saying that because…”

 

He grins when she doesn’t continue. “Because what, Katniss?” he asks, a little too innocently.

 

_Because I slept with you. Because we were each other’s firsts, and we were awkward and fumbling but I don’t regret it._

 

The plane begins to move, and their speed rapidly picks up – until she knows that this is it. This is the moment that the front wheels are going to lift from the ground.

 

“Because I let you in,” she says through fearful gasps, her unease seeming to increase in line with the speedometer.

 

Peeta leans closer, so close that she can feel his own – far more rhythmic – breaths against her cheek.

 

“Will you let me in again?”

 

He watches undaunted as she gapes at him, trying to ascertain his motives. “Are you just saying that to distract me from the fact that we’re in the air now? Because this is a two-hour flight, Peeta. You’re going to have to have an awful lot up your sleeve to distract me for so long.”

 

She ends up inhaling his gusts of laughter due to his proximity, but doesn’t mind, not really. She’d forgotten what a pleasant sight – and sound – it was. When he finally stops, he closes the gap between them to lean his forehead against hers. She surprises herself again when she finds comfort and relief from the gesture, especially from someone who is essentially a stranger.

 

“I’m saying it because I never forgot you. Because I wished that I’d stopped you from leaving that morning, or at least told you that I wanted to keep in touch through college. Because while what we had was great, I had wanted more.”

 

He pulls back to look at her. “Maybe this is our second chance, Katniss.”

 

“Is that what you want?” she asks, still uncertain.

 

“Yes,” he responds emphatically.

 

Through the window behind him, she can see the plane levelling out after completing its ascent. It’s somehow more calming here, up above the clouds, than it had been down on the runway. Her hand moves up to her chest, and she can feel her heartbeat slowing.

 

Peeta’s voice brings her focus back inside the cabin. “Will you at least allow me to make my case during the next two hours? If I can’t convince you to at least meet me for coffee sometime, then, well, you’ll never have to listen to me ramble again. What do you think?”

 

His smile is small but hopeful.

 

“I’ll allow it,” she says softly, knowing that she won’t regret it.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> deedeeinfj asked for a continuation of this, so here is part 2 :)

 

 

“And now for your inflight entertainment, Ms. Everdeen, I’m going to tell you the story of how I ran across campus completely naked at 7am one Saturday morning – only to interrupt the female track team during one of their training sessions.”

 

Katniss snorts at his words, turning to him in disbelief. “That did _not_ happen.”

 

Peeta places his hand over his heart and stares back solemnly. “It did. There are even photos on Facebook. Luckily, none of the track team were cruel enough to tag me.”

 

“That’s still pretty mean of them,” she muses. “To take photographs in the first place.”

 

“Well, they did request my permission first,” he concedes with a shrug. “And I asked them not to include my face in the shots, so really, it’s just a bunch of photographs of some guy’s naked torso and his hands covering his junk. But yeah, they’re still on the team’s Facebook page to remind newcomers that all those early morning training sessions _can_ be worth it – and that’s not me being arrogant, it really does say that in the caption.”

 

She laughs again, only stopping when he catches her eye, his grin mirroring hers. She doesn’t remember it being this easy to talk to him – to _anyone_ , really, except for Prim.

 

The moment ends when Peeta clears his throat and looks down at his hand on the armrest between them. “I thought about you a _lot_ during college. Always hoped that I’d run into you whenever I came home for the holidays.”

 

“Me too,” she admits softly.

 

He doesn’t lift his eyes – even so, it would be hard for her to miss the way his lips curl into a pleased smile.

 

“I, um, came to the bakery a few times.”

 

This time, he does look up, and she can see his surprise. “Really?”

 

She nods. “Saw your dad mostly, and your brother once.”

 

Shaking his head in disbelief, Peeta huffs his displeasure. “I can’t believe they didn’t tell me.”

 

“Why would they? As far as anyone else is concerned, you and I had never even spoken.”

 

“I guess,” he concedes with a shrug. “And that probably would have been true if you hadn’t taken that job working for Haymitch.”

 

She swallows hard before turning away, unable to return his gaze when she says her next words. “That would have been a shame.”

 

“That it would.”

 

They lapse into a comfortable silence, only interrupted when the flight attendants hand out refreshments halfway through the journey. When Peeta leans across her to return his cup to the stewardess, Katniss breathes him in, albeit shakily.

 

“There’s something I’ve always wondered…why did you kiss me that day?” he asks softly as he settles back onto his chair.

 

“Because you told me I was beautiful.”

 

A surprised gust of laughter escapes from his lips. “If I’d known that was all it would take, I would have told you years ago.”

 

She shrugs. “It wasn’t just that. There were lots of things. Like how nice you were to me whenever you came into the store, and well, I guess I knew that you had a little crush on me.”  


“Was I that obvious?”

 

She smiles. “You were a _little_ obvious. It was hard to miss the way you would look at me in class sometimes.”

 

“Maybe I just found you more interesting than calculus,” he responds lightly.

 

She decides to play along. “Maybe. So are you saying that I read too much into it and _shouldn’t_ have kissed you that day?”

 

“Oh, no. You were right to kiss me. I don’t think I would ever have summoned the courage to make the first move.”

 

Katniss lowers her voice as she casts her mind back yet again to those final days of summer that they had shared together. “You didn’t have trouble making a move later that night.”

 

Peeta leans closer, his lips brushing the shell of her ear as he responds. “I couldn’t believe my luck. And I didn’t want to waste a second of the time we had together.”

 

“We certainly can’t be accused of that,” she comments wryly.

 

But instead of laughing like she expects, the words that follow are sober. “Do you regret it?”

 

“No,” she says immediately. “Not at all. Do you?”

 

“No. Not for a second.”

 

When she turns to give him a smile, she finds her lips inches from his. She could lean in, just a fraction, to show him just how much she doesn’t regret it. And she wants to…but there is something else she needs to say first.

 

“I never thanked you. For the food that day.”

 

He frowns, clearly not making the connection. “On the day we…”

 

“No. I mean back when we were kids.”

 

She knows the moment when he understands, because his eyes go wide as they flick around the cabin behind her. “I didn’t realize you knew.”

 

“I saw you walking away from the front door. I told my mom that it was all from the neighbors, but I knew that the pies were from the bakery. I remember seeing them on display when I used to come in with my father. But I always wondered about that lamb stew.”

 

“I made it myself,” he admits. “From a recipe book we had lying around at home. I was alone that morning, with Dylan at college and Rye working his shift at the bakery. So I made it with some lamb my mom had put in the freezer that I was hoping she had forgotten about.”

 

“She didn’t forget, did she?” Katniss says softly as she recalls the next time she had seen him – with a dark circle looping around one eye. She remembers the rumors – a fight with his brother, mugged on the way home, an argument with another jock over a girl – but she had always felt that it had had something to do with her. Especially when he refused to return her gaze until the color had faded.

 

“No, she didn’t forget. But your dad had died. I figured that it was the least that I, or anyone else, could do.”

 

“Thank you, Peeta.”

 

“You don’t have to say that,” he says quietly. “And I hope that it wasn’t a factor in how things turned out for us.”

 

“If you mean, did I kiss you because of some feeling of obligation, then no. But it showed me what a kind and caring person you are, and that impression was only cemented throughout the years. Including _that_ day.”

 

“All I did was offer to help you move the delivery boxes from the yard.”

 

She nods. “But I knew that you had started your shift at the bakery early in the morning. And yet you still came in to help with me with the delivery. I had been thinking a lot that day about missed opportunities, and what high school might have been like for me if my dad had still been around. I was thinking that you and I might have been friends. And the next thing I knew, I was kissing you,” she adds with an embarrassed laugh.

 

“Well, I’m _really_ glad that you did. And I’m glad for everything that followed, too.”

 

“So am I.”

 

This time, she does lean in – and so does he. The kiss is nothing like the ones they’ve shared before. There is none of the awkwardness, or the heat from their later encounters. This kiss is more of a promise of what could come, if they would just allow it.

 

“There is one thing I’ve been wondering about,” he says after they pull apart, seemingly nervous.

 

“What?”

 

“I sent a text to your phone once. Not long after we started college.”

 

She frowns as she casts her mind back six years. “I changed my number. My mom bought me a new phone as a leaving gift, and I guess I never thought to share the new number with many people.”

 

Peeta nods, accepting her explanation. “Would you have, er, replied? You know, if you _had_ received it?”

 

Her voice is low when she finally answers. “I think that I would have.”

 

“That’s good to know,” he says with another nod and a smile tugging at his lips.

 

Katniss is still staring at him when the sight behind him catches her attention. “We’re descending,” she murmurs as thin layers of cloud whizz past the oval window.

 

Peeta glances at his watch. “We should be less than ten minutes away.”

 

The final whispers of cloud have only just faded when the plane lurches to the right. She grabs his hand instinctively, barely noticing the fact that he pulls away and instead wraps his closer arm around her shoulders, and offering the other hand for her to hold.

 

Enveloped by him, Katniss shuts her eyes and concentrates on breathing. _In…two…three…out…two…three_.

 

Lather, rinse, repeat. Just like Dr. Aurelius had told her all those years ago when the school had insisted on her and Prim seeing a psychologist after their father’s death.

 

The plane seems to swerve again, and she practically jumps out her seat.

 

“We’re just leveling out,” he says soothingly, squeezing her shoulder. “That’s a good thing. Wouldn’t want to come in at an angle, right?”

 

“Right,” she murmurs, eyes still screwed shut.

 

The next few minutes are filled with a fear that lies heavy within her chest, with only Peeta’s soft murmurings to distract from the darkness. He tells her of the beautiful colors that made up the sunset of the previous day, his words so descriptive that the image is conjured almost immediately beneath her eyelids.

 

He stops talking only when they feel the wheels hit tarmac, and their sharp deceleration sends her body hurtling against the seatbelt. Throughout it all, Peeta’s arms stay firm and strong all around her. When the plane eventually comes to a halt, she feels his soft lips against her temple.

 

She finally opens her eyes in time to see the seatbelt sign turn off with an accompanying ping that rings through the cabin. Peeta lets go of her hand to unclasp his belt before quickly reaching for her again.

 

And then he leans close to whisper in her ear, his breath hot against her sensitive skin. “Welcome home.”

 

 


End file.
